Lavrov: West Should End Confrontation, Help Rebuild Afghanistan
DID Press: Speaking at the opening of 7th Moscow Format Consultative Meeting on Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on Western countries to refrain from confrontational policies and take responsibility for rebuilding Afghanistan and repair the damage inflicted on its economy.
“Yet again, we call on [the West] to get off the confrontation course, return Afghanistan’s frozen assets, assume responsibility for post-conflict reconstruction, and compensate for decades of damage to the country’s economy and infrastructure,” said Lavrov on Tuesday (October 7).
According to Lavrov, “The hostile policies of Western countries continue to create major problems in Afghanistan. They have frozen Afghan financial assets and maintained sanctions and restrictions on the country’s banking system.”
Afghanistan’s Role in Regional Stability
Lavrov stressed the importance of Afghanistan’s participation in regional political and economic processes, saying:
“We believe that ensuring the security and prosperity of the region requires Afghanistan’s involvement in regional political processes, multilateral associations, and joint economic projects.”
He added that Moscow fully supports this approach and, “after announcing the official recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in July, lifted restrictions on bilateral cooperation.”
Unconditional Humanitarian Aid
The Russian foreign minister also emphasized that international donors must not attach political conditions to humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
“We once again call on foreign donors not to forget the Afghan people and not to make humanitarian assistance conditional on political considerations,” Lavrov said.
He noted that Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation remains dire: “More than half of the country’s population — around 22 million out of 39 million — needs humanitarian assistance, and about 21 million lack access to clean drinking water and basic medical services.”
Lavrov concluded by reaffirming Moscow’s commitment to continue and expand humanitarian support to Afghanistan.
Moscow Format Consultative Meeting on Afghanistan opened today with the participation of regional countries and representatives of the Taliban government.